Snowy Egret Feeding
Some days are “so so”, some days are average, and some days are amazing. Summer is not my favorite time of year to photograph birds at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but July 14, 2016 was an amazing day. This photo of a feeding Snowy Egret was just one of many fine images from the morning. He stabbed at his prey and it came out of the water but not in his beak.
The view across the wildlife refuge looking west at the Dumbarton Bridge.
Located on the east side of San Francisco Bay near Fremont, California, the Don Edwards San Fransisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge is one of my favorite places to go when I am in the Bay Area.
Rachel
This is Rembrandt lighting. The best clue is the triangle shaped light on her right cheek.
Beth warming up in the car after the incident.
It was January 24, 2020, out in the country in Decatur County Iowa. “The Incident” is etched in my memory!
It was five years ago today at about 4:30 in the afternoon. It was cold and the wind was fierce, but Beth and I were determined to get a portrait of her playing the violin in the snowstorm. Why were we doing that? That story is here.
Beth playing her violin in the snow.
First things first. Yes, see really is a real concert violinist. Yes, she really is playing the violin.
Why is she doing this out in the snow? Good question.
Sarah, Professional Fitness Trainer
Your camera is in love with middle gray. The quicker you learn how to deal with this infatuation, the better your photos will look, including all of your color photos.
Dawn at Sprague Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park
The exposure compensation scale on your camera is one of the keys to mastering exposures, getting better images, and ending up with professional quality colors. This means taking your camera off of full auto mode and taking control of your own exposures.
It was my happy privilege to do winter portraits of Beth Presler who is a superb violinist. This article has suggestions for photographing any musician on a cold, snowy winter day.
Snow Hummocks, Merced River
Just like metering daytime winter scenes, the key to metering evening winter scenes is knowing what to meter and deciding how much exposure compensation to use.
Kristina in the Snow
The white snow in a winter scene can and often does fool a camera meter into underexposing a portrait, so here are the steps to take to get the right exposure. I throw in a few portrait suggestions too.
Sunset Light on El Capitan
We spent most of the Christmas holiday in the Bay Area visiting family. When we left the Bay Area the morning of December 30, 1990, we decided to make a side trip to Yosemite before making the long drive home.
Kristin
Kristin wanted to know if we could squeeze in a photo shoot while she was home for the holidays. “Of course”, I said. December 29 was the day that worked for both of us. Despite the sunshine, the windchill was 26° during our shoot. We were texting Christmas greetings to each other today and I reminded her how cold it was for this photo shoot. She didn’t realize it was that cold. She was caught up in the shoot.
Jack Ergo, original file (left) and optimized version (right).
For a variety of reasons, cameras do not capture what your eyes are seeing when you click the shutter. One of the reasons is dynamic range. Your eyes see a remarkable range of tones from black to white in a wide variety of lighting conditions. Your camera has a much more limited dynamic range. That is one of the issues with this photo.
Graceland Concert Choir
Graceland University in Lamoni Iowa did two Christmas concerts. The first was a more formal concert in the Shaw Center auditorium with the Graceland Concert Choir and the Graceland Symphonic Band. Two nights later there was a more casual, laid back concert in the Shaw Center lobby with the Graceland Jazz Ensemble and Graceland Harmonium, a smaller vocal group. Cookies, hot chocolate, coffee, and water were served. The cookie stuffed crowd was invited to sing along with Harmonium on the Christmas carols. Click any of these images to see a larger version.
Living Art Studios Dance Recital
Every year, a highlight of the Christmas season in Lamoni Iowa is the dance recital put on by the students at Living Art Studios. They were again joined this year by the award winning Graceland Gadets. If you want to order prints go to the links below. Click any of these images to see a larger version.
High School Jazz Band.
The Lamoni Schools Christmas Concert featured the High School Jazz Band, the 6th Grade Band, the 7th and 8th Grade Band, and the High School Concert Band. If you want to order prints, go to the links below. Click any of these photos to see a larger version.
Sarah Ellis – Window Blind Shadows.
Sarah was is town Thanksgiving weekend so we squeezed in enough time for a photo shoot. November 27 was the only date that worked for both of us. I had a special project in mind. Early November through late February is the only time of year that the sun is low enough in the sky to shine in the south facing window in my studio. I put a set of window blinds in the window for this part of the photo shoot and opened the blinds half way. Alignment was critical. It took quite a bit of doing to get the bands of sunlight to line up with the pupils of her brown eyes.
Mila Avani
Some photographic concepts are planned out well in advance, and some are spur of the moment. This was one of those spontaneous, “in the moment” ideas. Mila and I were doing portraits in the area around Marquette Michigan. It was after dark by the time we arrived at this location and the ore dock was lit up in the background. It just seemed like a great idea to rim light Mila with the lights in the background.
Trunk or Treat
The local weekly newspaper asked me to send them a bunch of Trunk or Treat photos, so I did. These are my favorites. As it turned out, it was a much busier news week than usual, so only two of my photos made it into the paper. Every year Trunk or Treat is sponsored by the Enactus program at Graceland University here in Lamoni Iowa.
Rose Hill Cemetery, Lamoni Iowa.
There might be ghosts!
Arlington Covered Bridge and Norman Rockwell’s Home. Vermont. October 24, 2017.
Thanks to Michelle and Kim at the Sugar Shack (see my prior post), I was in Norman Rockwell Heaven. I love Norman Rockwell. Before I stopped at the Sugar Shack I did not know Rockwell lived just a few miles away.
The Sugar Shack, Arlington Vermont, October 23, 2017.
If you have been following this series of articles you know I spent several wonderful days in Acadia National Park. On my way home I did some exploring in western Vermont. I stopped at the Sugar Shack in need of a rest break. Once I got inside I was hooked. They sell incredible Vermont maple syrup that is made on-site. It comes in several flavor strengths. The strongest flavor, which is my favorite, will curl your toenails. If you are at the Sugar Shack you can sample the different flavor grades and see what you like. You can order from their online store (link below) in several different sizes.
Dawn Otter Cliff, Acadia National Park. October 22, 2017.
The next day in my Acadia National Park series. This is the last day of my trip.
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, also called C/2023 A3. Cropped. Click the image to see a larger version.
Comet C/2023 A3 over Lake La Shane, Iowa. Venus is at the lower left. A jet left a vapor trail that is slowly dissolving. This is cropped from the original image. The whole image is next. Continue reading
Dawn on top of Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park.
From October to March, the top of Cadillac Mountain is the first place in the continental U.S. to be touch by sunlight. There are places farther east, but Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on the U.S. eastern seaboard. Over 200 people had gathered here to catch the moment.
Otter Cliff and Granite Ledges at Sunrise, Acadia National Park.
It was my one and only trip to Acadia National Park. I can see why it is rated one of our best best national parks to visit in the fall.
The Milky Way, Acadia National Park. October 18, 2017.
My evening in Acadia National Park. I arrived after dark and created images of the night sky and the Milky Way. Then a car drove by and created these light streaks.
Fighting it out in the trenches.
When I photograph a football game, the local newspaper doesn’t want dozens, much less hundreds of photos. I usually select 6 – 12 images to send to the Lamoni Chronicle and they choose the ones they want to publish.
Korbin Nall (25) scores a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.
As usual, when I photograph an event for the weekly Lamoni Chronicle, I create a lot of images and select about 6 to 12 to send to the paper. The paper usually chooses from 2 to 6 to publish. On really rare occasions a dozen might get published. If it is a slow news week, more of my photos get published so I always hope for a slow news week. The photos in this article are my “selects” from the October 7, 2024 middle school football game between the Lamoni Demons (red helmets) and the Melcher-Dallas Saints.
